Wildfires were particularly intense and destructive in the Pantanal wetlands, the Amazon, Canada and the western US.
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2024 was a “devastating” year for large parts of North and South America, which saw above-average wildfire activity exacerbated by severe drought conditions.
The Pantanal wetlands, the Amazon, Canada and the western US experienced “particularly intense wildfires” this year, the EU Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) said on Thursday. The agency, which monitors global wildfire emissions, said exceptional drought conditions affecting the Americas have increased the likelihood of the occurrence of large wildfires.
The Amazon wildfire season started early this year, with Brazil and Venezuela breaking the record for the highest carbon emissions for February.
In 2023, the Amazon basin suffered its most severe drought in at least 45 years, which scientists found had been made much more likely by climate change. Dry conditions have persisted throughout 2024, with water levels in many rivers in the basin reaching a historic low.
Above-average wildfire activity was recorded throughout northern South America during the first six months of the year. Bolivia, Guyana and Suriname endured the most intense wildfires in at least two decades “by a large margin,” while carbon emissions from wildfires reached a record yearly high in Venezuela, the EU agency said.
The Pantanal, home to the world’s largest tropical wetland area, had a catastrophic wildfire season, with wildfire activity up 980% from last year. Wildfires ravaged nearly 1.5 million hectares of the region’s 20 million hectares.
More on the topic: In Pictures – Brazil on Fire: A Fight for Survival
In North America, parts of the western US, including California, and Canada saw remarkable wildfire events.
In Canada, which last year endured a record wildfire season, western provinces were particularly affected. Large blazes in British Columbia in May forced the evacuation of thousands of people and released unprecedented levels of carbon emissions, CAMS revealed earlier this year.
Mark Parrington, Senior Scientist at CAMS, said North and South America’s wildfires “stood out most” in terms of emissions this year, adding that “the impacts of all these fires had continental-scale impacts on air quality with high surface concentrations of particulate matter and other pollutants which persisted for several weeks.”
Meanwhile, wildfires in southeast Asia were generally below average, in line with the declining trend seen in the last two decades. Europe’s season was also “close-to-average” aside from some “significant” episodes in Portugal, North Macedonia, and Greece.
Health Risks
Air pollution caused by wildfires is attributable to 1.53 million deaths a year globally, according to a new major study published last month.
The study focussed on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3), two common toxic pollutants released during wildfires. They pose severe health risks to humans and can lead to multiple health issues, including headaches, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory issues such as asthma, pneumonia, and lung cancer, and even premature mortality.
PM2.5, one of the most common and harmful components of air pollution, was linked to some 77.6% of the estimated 1.53 million annual deaths from fire-related pollution, while ozone accounted for 22.4%.
Climate Change
Climate change has increased the wildfire season by roughly two weeks on average globally, mostly by enhancing the availability of fuel through heat and dry conditions. The average wildfire season in Western US is now 105 days longer, burns six times as many acres, and sees three times as many large fires – fires that burn more than 1,000 acres compared to the 1970s, according to Climate Central.
Despite an increase in the frequency and severity of wildfires globally, however, the amount of area burned by wildfires each year has gone down over the last few decades.
A 2017 paper published in Science found that global burned area declined by approximately 25% over the past 18 years, despite the influence of climate. The phenomenon can be explained by a decline in burn rates in grasslands and savannas as a result of the expansion and intensification of agriculture.
The past nine years have been the hottest on record. 2023 was the hottest year globally, with global average temperatures at 1.46C above pre-industrial levels. 2024 is now on track to be even hotter.
Featured image: Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).
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